Whats Really Real?

Whats Really Real?

Reddit is a community which thrives off stories, information, images and videos from people around the world. The content within reddit is always going to be different to what someone else has perceived it to be. Logging online to an anonymous portal may give the user a sense of self and place, whilst offline their sense of self and place may not be as equally validated to their online self. The sense of place online generates security and allows people to freely comment and post on subreddits of their choice without any personal relation to the subredditor. Social networking sites such as Facebook have “true” viewable identities of yourselves you must use when logged on, by choosing to be a member of Facebook your online profile which contains a profile picture and what your “interest” are can then shape who you are perceived to be to the world. Mcneill states that “the templates offer little room to negotiate or complicate identity”.

 As citied by Kuttanien, Certain narratives that don’t match the norm are “silenced”. Each social network is different in its own way with different purposes and ways of expressing narratives. Eli Pariser states the motions of filter bubbles and how we unknowingly don’t get to decide what gets edited in and out of our searches online. Then creating a spiral of one less power and authority we have in our own hands which is slowly closing our online coffee shops to explore, debate and converse with other members of the online world. Reddit is specifically tailored to your wants and needs as you subscribe to the subreddits you want to view. The content you view is your own choice and free will that’s based on your general interests and likes as stories that are shared have different perspectives due to what every individual has seen.

References-

Kuttainen, V. (2016). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, lecture 6: Networked Narratives. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

McNeill, L. (2012). There Is No "I" in Network: Social Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography. Biography 35(1), 65-82. University of Hawai'i Press. Retrieved September 2, 2016, from Project MUSE database.

Pariser, E. (2011). Beware online “filter bubbles”. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles